Students 'try to tear off woman's clothes'

Students have reportedly tried to tear the clothes off a blonde woman as she walked across the campus of Cairo University in an outfit described by the dean as "a bit unconventional".

A video that shows the long-haired woman wearing a hot pink top and black jeans appearing to rush through the campus as she is swarmed by a crowd of wolf-whistling men has gone viral and sparked outrage across Egypt.

A member of an anti-sexual harassment group told AFP male students had verbally attacked the woman and attempted to undress her.

University dean Gaber Nassar said the unnamed woman's outfit, which he said was "a bit unconventional", led to the harassment – though he emphasised that the incident was not justified, the MailOnline reports.

"This girl entered the university wearing an abaya (loose cloak) and then took it off in the faculty, and appeared with those clothes, that caused, in reality ... the incident," Mr Nassar reportedly told Egyptian channel ONTV.

He said guards turn away students who arrive at campus dressed inappropriately, but "the student's mistake does not justify what the (other) students did," he said.

Mr Nassar has written to the girl telling her he did not blame her for the incident.